Fognini Battles Tsonga On Monday In Rome; Read Preview

Fabio Fognini and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga headline the first night session of this year’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Monday in Rome. Borna Coric and #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime open up the day session in a match between two of the game’s most promising young stars.

Fognini, seeded 10th, will have plenty of attention from the home crowd after winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title last month at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Although he trails Tsonga 1-4 in their FedEx ATP HeadHead rivalry, the Italian won their most recent match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open. Tsonga is making his first appearance in Rome since 2015 and is a two-time quarter-finalist at this event. The Frenchman is 14-6 this season and clinched a title on home soil this February at the Open Sud de France (d. Herbert).

Coric, seeded 13th, will look for revenge on Auger-Aliassime after losing their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this March in the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals. The Croatian has reached at least the quarter-finals in four of his past six ATP Tour events. Auger-Aliassime aims to continue his outstanding form on clay in 2019. The 18-year-old advanced to his first ATP Tour final this February at the Rio Open presented by Claro (l. to Djere).

Marco Cecchinato, seeded 16th, will look to delight the Campo Centrale crowd with a win against #NextGenATP Australian Alex de Minaur. The Italian has won all three of his ATP Tour titles on clay, including one this February at the Argentina Open (d. Schwartzman). De Minaur, who defeated Cecchinato in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head match last year at Wimbledon, is searching for his first win on clay this season.

Other notable matches on Monday include 11th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov against Italian wild Lorenzo Sonego, 15th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils taking on Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas and #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov squaring off with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, 13 MAY, 2019

CENTRALE start 11:00 am
[13] Borna Coric (CRO) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA match
Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs [16] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) Not Before 7:30 pm
[PR] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs [10] Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Not Before 9:00 pm
WTA match

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Not Before 12:00 noon
[WC] Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) vs [11] Karen Khachanov (RUS)
Two WTA matches
Not Before 7:00 pm
Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

PIETRANEGLI start 11:00 am
Two WTA matches
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
[Q] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs [15] Gael Monfils (FRA)
WTA match

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Laslo Djere (SRB)
WTA match
[Q] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs [Q] Daniel Evans (GBR)
WTA match
[3] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Dominic Inglot (GBR)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am
WTA match
[6] Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL) vs Alexander Zverev (GER) / Mischa Zverev (GER)
WTA match
John Millman (AUS) vs [Q] Camerin Norrie (GBR)
WTA match

COURT 3 start 11:00 am
Two WTA matches
ATP – [5] Oliver Marach (AUT) / Mate Pavic (CRO) vs Ben McLachlan (JPN) / Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
WTA match

COURT 4 start 11:00 am
Ivan Dodig (CRO) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs [4] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Franko Skugor (CRO)
Radu Albot (MDA) / Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs [8] Henri Kontinen (FIN) / John Peers (AUS)
[1] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) vs [WC] Simone Bolelli (ITA) / Andreas Seppi (ITA)
Lucas Pouille (FRA) / Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Borna Coric (CRO) / Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Matwe Middelkoop (NED) / Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) / Joao Sousa (POR)